It’s tournament time in Connecticut! And with college basketball brackets on our minds already and a field of 27 gubernatorial candidates, we decided to have a little fun this year with a mock election.

This contest is for political junkies and is completely unscientific. We thought we’d give readers a shot at naming the frontrunners in a race where there has been no frontrunner, and you came through for us in the first round!

From Republicans to Democrats to the independent and petitioning candidates, this bracket includes three rounds (Convention, Primary, General) and three “regional” competitions in an attempt to gauge what our readers may be thinking.

These outcomes may not mean much with respect to the actual contest taking place here in Connecticut over the next several months, other than perhaps providing a measure of each campaign’s level of organization and/or enthusiasm. Was your candidate’s campaign able to easily reach supporters to ask them to take two minutes to visit a website and click?

The First Round

The Republican side of the bracket saw a remarkable amount of participation with a total of 13,461 votes cast. We put 12 of the 15 declared Republican candidates into the GOP bracket and there were several lead changes before Tim Herbst, the former first selectman of Trumbull, eventually came out on top with 3,380 votes, or 25.11 percent of the total votes cast. Glastonbury State Representative Prasad Srinivasan finished second to advance with Herbst into our “Primary” round with 2,536 votes, or 18.84 percent of the total.

In the Democratic bracket, former Commissioner of Veterans Affairs Sean Connolly ran away with the contest, garnering 49.31 percent, or 711 of 1442 votes cast. Second place and a spot in the Primary round went to businessman Ned Lamont, who had 236 votes or 16.37 percent. Jonathan Harris, the former West Hartford mayor, state senator, and Department of Consumer Protection commissioner, was third with 174 votes, or 12.07 percent.

In the Wildcard bracket there were two independent candidates, three Democrats, two Republicans (after Joe Visconti dropped out to run for U.S. Senate), and one late entry Libertarian.

Oz Griebel, the former MetroHartford Alliance President and CEO, easily won this bracket, which had the least amount of participation with 283 total votes cast.

Griebel finished with 53.71 percent on 152 votes to advance to the Primary round. The second place spot was decided in a very close contest. Republican Eric Mastroianni advanced with 41 votes or 14.49 percent, edging out Jacey Wyatt, who received 38 votes.

The Second Round

This next round consists of three head-to-head pairings. The winner of each will advance to the General election final round. Click below to head to the poll and vote for your preferred candidate!

How did we set up the regions? Loosely. Note that the candidates are in alphabetical order in each region. We included established Democrats and Republicans in each of their respective regions. The Wildcard region included independent candidates and others, some of whom had yet to raise at least $5000 in support from individuals.

Let us know what you think in the comments below ... and please by all means keep it civil! This is supposed to be fun for everyone.